T@SK Project: Building Bridges Between University and Society Through Social Work (original) (raw)
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Cuadernos de Trabajo Social, 2020
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European Journal of Social Work, 2019
The social work profession in Albania is relatively young and social services in the country continue to develop. But over the past three decades, Albania has experienced significant growth and transformation in its social work education programmes. Nevertheless, there is very little published work on the Albanian social work education system and its implementation on the ground. Currently, the main sources of social work graduates are three Schools of Social Work in Tirana, Shkodra, and Elbasan. Programmes at the bachelor's and master's level all incorporate policy, research, and practice education. The social work curriculum, originally transplanted from the United States, has gone through reforms following the Bologna process and continues to be revised to meet local needs. Drawing from a multi-country study of the social service workforce in southeast Europe, this paper presents baseline data on social work education in Albania. 62 participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, case stories, and focus group discussions with consensus-building exercises. The findings highlight both the opportunities and challenges of this relatively young profession in Albania. Besides increasing understandings of social work education in Albania, this research adds to emerging regional and global themes in the development of social work education and practice. Abstrakt Puna sociale në Shqipëri është relativisht e re dhe shërbimet sociale në zhvillim e sipër. Gjatë tri dekadave të fundit, Shqipëria ka parë një rritje dhe transformim në programet e arsimimit të punonjësve socialë, por pak është botuar mbi sistemin arsimor të tyre në Shqipëri dhe zbatimin e tij. Burimet kryesore të të diplomuarve në fushë janë tri shkollat e punës sociale në vend-Tiranë, Shkodër,Elbasan. Programet 'baçelor' dhe 'master' përfshijnë të gjitha komponentë të politikave, kërkimit dhe praktikës. Fillimisht të transplantuar nga Sh.B.A, ato kanë kaluar në procese reformimi, sidomos pas procesit të Bolonjës, dhe vazhdojnë të përshtaten me nevojat lokale. Nisur nga një studim i forcës së punës të shërbimeve sociale në Europën Juglindore, ky artikull prezanton të dhëna bazë mbi arsimimin e punonjësve social në Shqipëri. 62 pjesëmarrës u pyetën përmes intervistave gjysmë-të-strukturuara, KEYWORDS Social work education; Southeastern Europe; social service workforce FJALËT KyÇ arsimimi i punonjësve socialë; Europa Juglindore; forca e punës së shërbimeve sociale
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European Journal of Social Work, 2019
The social work profession in Albania is relatively young and social services in the country continue to develop. But over the past three decades, Albania has experienced significant growth and transformation in its social work education programmes. Nevertheless, there is very little published work on the Albanian social work education system and its implementation on the ground. Currently, the main sources of social work graduates are three Schools of Social Work in Tirana, Shkodra, and Elbasan. Programmes at the bachelor's and master's level all incorporate policy, research, and practice education. The social work curriculum, originally transplanted from the United States, has gone through reforms following the Bologna process and continues to be revised to meet local needs. Drawing from a multi-country study of the social service workforce in southeast Europe, this paper presents baseline data on social work education in Albania. 62 participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, case stories, and focus group discussions with consensus-building exercises. The findings highlight both the opportunities and challenges of this relatively young profession in Albania. Besides increasing understandings of social work education in Albania, this research adds to emerging regional and global themes in the development of social work education and practice. Abstrakt Puna sociale në Shqipëri është relativisht e re dhe shërbimet sociale në zhvillim e sipër. Gjatë tri dekadave të fundit, Shqipëria ka parë një rritje dhe transformim në programet e arsimimit të punonjësve socialë, por pak është botuar mbi sistemin arsimor të tyre në Shqipëri dhe zbatimin e tij. Burimet kryesore të të diplomuarve në fushë janë tri shkollat e punës sociale në vend-Tiranë, Shkodër,Elbasan. Programet 'baçelor' dhe 'master' përfshijnë të gjitha komponentë të politikave, kërkimit dhe praktikës. Fillimisht të transplantuar nga Sh.B.A, ato kanë kaluar në procese reformimi, sidomos pas procesit të Bolonjës, dhe vazhdojnë të përshtaten me nevojat lokale. Nisur nga një studim i forcës së punës të shërbimeve sociale në Europën Juglindore, ky artikull prezanton të dhëna bazë mbi arsimimin e punonjësve social në Shqipëri. 62 pjesëmarrës u pyetën përmes intervistave gjysmë-të-strukturuara,
Social Work as The Safety Net of the Albanian Society in Transition
PRIZREN SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, 2018
Social work has little tradition as an academic discipline or as a profession in Albania despite the high need for well-trained social workers. Social work in Albania had practically not existed in the past, neither before the WWII nor during socialist regime. It was the deep political and economic changes of the post socialist phase and the support of government and non-government stakeholders, like the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Emigration and Ex-Persecuted People as well as the Grand Valley University, Michigan, which paved the way for the establishment from scratch of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Tirana in 1992. Two other schools of Social Work were also established in two public universities, one at the University of Shkodra (2005) and another at the Elbasan University (2004). The Albania's adherence to the Bologna Declaration brought a new reform, initiated in 2005, in which the Departments of Social Work were actively involved and played a critical role to adjust the curricula according to the EU standards.
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This article presents the results of a survey on the internationalization of Bachelor's education in social work, which was carried out at 33 schools of social work across Europe. Many universities are seeking to "internationalize" their social work curriculum. However, although many social work educators are convinced of the importance of cross-border exchange, others are sceptical about the added value of internationalization for a professional career in social work. The aim of this study is to contribute to the discussion about the significance of internationalizing the curriculum of Bachelor's programmes in social work.
The internationalisation of doctoral education in social work has become a newly developing area particularly in Europe during the last two decades. It has been promoted by two factors: (1) the reform of higher education (Bologna reform), which contributed to the development of doctoral study and (2) the establishment of European funding programmes that would allow international cooperation and ensure the quality of the programmes. Also, in the European Qualification Framework the knowledge, skills and competences gained by doctoral qualification are defined. In this article, we analyse three international doctoral projects that were developed in Europe in last 10 years. We focus on what the advantages and obstacles are of these policy frameworks and what their impact on international cooperation is in the development of doctoral programmes. The analysis shows that differences in national terms and conditions of the study remain a major obstacle for joint doctoral programmes, but it is precisely international cooperation that significantly contributes to the quality of doctoral studies. The analysis also shows that the current policy framework of higher education in the EU does not solve the problems; on the contrary, it contributes to it.
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